Grinding-mill.



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(Application. mod J's-n. 26, 1900.)

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(No Model.)

No. 684,346. Patented Oct. 8, I901.

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GRINDING HILL.

(Application filed Jan. 26, 1900.)

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, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAY O. BOWSHER, OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA.

GRINDING-MILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 684,346, dated October8, 1901. Application filed January 26, 1900. Serial No. 2,874. (Nomodel.)

To (LZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAY C. BOWSHER, a citizen of the United States,residing at South Bend, in the county of St. Joseph and State ofIndiana, have invented certain new and useful ImprovementsinGrinding-Mills, of which the following is a specification.

My improvements relate particularly to the construction and arrangementof devices for feeding grain of various kinds from a box into which itis received from a hopper into a crushing and grinding chamber or forpresenting it positively, continuously, and effectively to the action ofcrushing or grinding mechanism or devices.

The especial objects of my improvements are to provide means which willfeed by force coarse material, such as corn on the cob, to crushingblades or knives without depending on gravity, as heretofore; to forcethe material into position to be grasped by said blades or knives; toadjust the feed by changing the number of knives, blades, or fingerswhich perform the feeding function; to effect further modification inthe feed by means secured to the feeding-box, and to accomplish theseobjects by devices which are simple in construction, strong and durable,and capable of application to various forms of grinding-mills.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application,Figure 1 is a transverse section through a feeding-box of a grindingmillsupplied with my improved feeding devices. Fig. 2 is a perspective viewof a shaft having secured thereon a series of feeding-fingers made inaccordance with my invention and arranged in pairs. Fig. 3 is a similarview with the fingers arranged singly. Fig. 4: is an elevation, on alarger scale than the preceding figures, of the inner side of a malefinger. Fig. 5 is a similar View of the inner side of a female finger,and Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a double or compound finger which maybe used in lieu of the arrangement shown inFig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a shaft which is rotatablymounted in the ends of a feedingbox L, to the top of which a hopper issecured and to the bottom of which the crushing-chamber M is secured.Secured to the shaft A in any desired manner, and adapted to rotatetherewith, are the feeding-fingers B and C, which extend radially fromsaid shaft. These fingers are formed with a perforated hub through whichthe shaft extends, and preferably have their edges curved in thedirection of their rotation and terminate in a point g, though otherforms may be utilized, if desired. On the inner side or face of thefinger B are formed lugs b and I), the former being near the hub and thelatter near the point or outer end of the finger. On the inner side orface of the finger O are recesses c and c, the former being near the huband the latter near the point, and these recesses are so positioned thatthey will exactly register with and therefore be engaged by the lugs band b, respectively, when the inner sides of the two fingers B and O arein juxtaposition, thus coupling or locking said fingers against lateraldisplacement when arranged in pairs on their common shaft. The finger Bat a point on its hub exactly opposite the lug b has a third lug 12which registers with and engages the recess 0 when the finger G isplaced in position shown in Fig. 3that is, at an angle of one hundredand eighty degrees to the finger Band thus serves to retain said fingersin their relative positions, as shown in said figure.

It will be noted that the blade portions of the fingers B and O extendfrom the right and left hand sides of the hub portions, respectively, sothat when arranged in pairs the blades are in juxtaposition, as shown inFig. 2, and when arranged singly or as shown in Fig. 3, the bladesrotate in substantially the same plane, thus allowing ample openingsbetween the several pairs of the blades for the passage of the cobs orcoarser material and preventing the choking of the apparatus. The spacebetween the blades may be varied by widening the hubs or placing ringsbetween them or in any other desired manner, such feature forming nopart of my invention.

Each finger may be provided with a set screw or nut, as 17 by which itmay be fixed on the shaft in any axial or longitudinal adjustment,though in the drawings only the end fingers are shown to be providedwith such set-screws.

The double or compound finger D (shown in Fig. 6) is mounted on theshaft in the same manner as the fingers B and O and presents the samesurface to the material to be fed as when the latter fingers arearranged separately, as shown in Fig. 3.

It will be apparent that the number of lugs and corresponding recesseson the sides of the fingers may be increased and that they may be placedat any desired points on said contiguous faces and be of any suitableshapes without departing from the spirit of this invention.

In the operation of the devices the fingers constructed and arranged asdescribed will catch the material as it falls from the hopper into thefeeding-box and carry or force it through the throat of the said box,where it is ground or crushed between the rotating crusher II, carryingthe knife K, and the serrated plate N, secured to the side of thecrushing-chamber M. When a small amount of material is to be fed to thecrushers or where a slow feed is desired, the fingers will be used inpairs; but where a larger amount is to be operated upon or a rapid feedis required the fingers will be arranged singly on opposite sides of theshaft, thus doubling the capacity of the machine without adding newparts or materially altering the arrangement of the old parts. Otheradjustments of the fingers on their shaft maybe made which will regulatetheir feeding capacity from normal to any degree up to double the normalquan tity fed to the crushing mechanism.

Passing through the hubs of the fingers are screw-bolts b by means ofwhich the fingers are secured to the shaft A in a well-known manner, andby loosening these bolts the fingers may be axially adjusted or turnedabout the shaft, and they may be moved along the shaft, and thusadjusted longitudinallysingly or in pairs.

As it is important in machines of this class to provide for their use onall kinds of grain, from the coarse corn in large ears down to smallgrain, it becomes necessary to provide means which will control the feedof the various kinds or forms of material under all conditions. Toaccomplish this, I provide in addition to the adjustable'fingers adiaphragm or apron J, which is hinged at the top of the feeding-box L,so as to swing within the same. To the lower free end of the apron issecured a toothed sectorj, the teeth of which engage the lower edge of anotch 7c, cut through the side of the box. The sectoris held in itsadjusted positions by means'of a set-screw S, which passes through aninternally-threaded lug s, secured to the outside of the box at a 7point just above the notch k, so that the lower 7 7 77 end of the screwrests upon the upper edge of the sector.

As this apron is swung in or.

out from the adjacent side of the box it widens V 1 or narrows thethroat of the box in a manner,

clearly apparent and at the same time forms a smooth and unbrokenpassage for the material on its way to the crushers.

Having thus described myinvention, what 7' V I claim is 1. Ingrinding-mills, the combi h r a chamber provided with crushing mechanyism, of a feeding-chamber communicating with said crushing-chamber,means for regulating the passage of material from the feeding to thecrushing chamber, feeding-fingers located in the feeding-chamber, saidfingers having interlocking parts on their contiguous faces and securedon a rotating shaft, as

set forth. V

2. In grinding-mills, the combination with a chamber provided withcrushing mechanism, of a feeding-chamber communicating' with thecrushing-chamber, means for regulating the passage of the material fromthe feeding to the crushing chamber, feeding-finr r 7 f gers located inthe feeding-chamber, said fingers having interlocking parts on theircontiguous faces, and axially and longitudinally adjustable on arotating shaft, substantially as set forth.

3. In grinding-mills having crushing mechanism, a feeding-chamberlocated adjacent to the crushing mechanism, feeding-fingers ad- Ijustably mounted in said feeding-chamber on.

a suitable shaft, said fingers having interlocking parts ontheircontiguous faces, substantially as set forth. 7 V

4. In grinding-mills, feeding-fingers ar ranged in pairs, one of eachpair having lugs formed on its inner face, and the other having recessesin its inner face adapted to be engaged by said lugs, substantially asde-.

scribed.

5. In grinding-mills, feeding-fingers ar-' ranged'in pairs, one of eachpair having lugs on the inner face of the hub and near the.

point of the finger, and the other having re.-

cesses adapted to be engaged by said lugs, as;

have hereunto set

